Today, I want talk about your personal relationship with fitness. Are you in a positive relationship with your own fitness/movement? Is it good, bad or somewhere in between.
If you have a good relationship with fitness, then well done. Maybe you’ll be able to use this winning formula to empower another area of your life that may need work.
If you have a bad or “complicated” relationship with fitness then there’s room for improvement. To do that we need to look at the “why”. What are the reasons for your fitness issues? It might be a negative past experience that has framed exercise in a negative way.
For most of us a bad relationship with fitness begins with not being “good” at exercise at an earlier point in life. This could have come from being bullied in gym class at school, you might only have done exercise that you find boring, or you could be like me where exercise was used as a form of punishment for many years. It’s natural to develop a negative view of exercise if all you’ve had is negative feedback.
This leads to what I call “limiting beliefs”. For example, I’m sure at some point you’ve used the, “I don’t have the time to exercise” excuse. This is a limiting belief. So is, “I’m too old to exercise” and “I’m just not good at it”. As long as you’re able bodied these are just excuses for failing before even trying.
The sad truth is that while you’re holding on to these “limiting beliefs” and not working on your fitness, your emotions or your mental health, then you’re not going to have as powerful and fulfilled a life as those who are.
When you look after your physical fitness, your body responds by making you feel better. It releases endorphins, it releases hormones that make you feel good. Nobody ever has done a workout and then said they feel like shit afterwards.
Decide, Create and Conquer
If you’re not looking after your body, then make a decision, to go and do some form of movement that you’re going to be able to progress in, keep consistent at, and that you’re going to enjoy.
This can be anything, ranging from weight training, martial arts, yoga or something as simple as taking a 30 minute walk every day. You don’t even need to set aside a large amount of time either.
In the case of walking you can make it part of your work day, just get on an earlier bus / train and get off a stop or two earlier and walk the rest of the way. I share more ideas in DMC’s Top 5 Health Tips at Work.
If like many of us, you’re still working from home during the pandemic, then you’re in an even better position to improve your relationship with fitness. How about taking the 1 hour+ that you would have spent commuting and invest it in your fitness.
Again, you could go for a walk or you could stick some music on and dance. Whatever works for you and because you’re at home you can try whatever you want without fear of judgement from others. If you need further guidance and accountability then we offer online personal training to help keep you consistent all in the comfort of your own home.
Consistency is key and once you’re doing your favourite form of exercise on a consistent basis you create a more conditioned you. What I’m talking about isn’t bulking up or anything like that. What I mean is that you allow your body to become stronger through regular movement which in turn helps you build self confidence around your own physicality.
Your body is a vehicle that you’re going to spend the rest of your life in and you need to take care of because if you don’t then the body gets distressed and sick. Developing your personal relationship with your own fitness will ensure that your vehicle (body) is road worthy as long as possible.
Take care of your physical body, start to learn and develop a better relationship with fitness and in turn this will help improve your mindset. If you’re procrastinating on it, if you’re worried about it, if you’re in a disempowered space, because you know you should be doing something and you’re not, then you will be left with regret.
If you don’t feel that you can do it on your own then there is plenty of help out there. Get involved in a community. Hire a coach and get in a programme. They’ll help create a better knowledge and understanding around your personal relationship with fitness and guide you through practical application.
Whether with a coach or on your own, as your relationship with fitness and self improves, your relationship with others will improve, your performance at work will improve, your energy levels will improve, your energy levels will improve and your sense of fulfillment will improve.
All of this because you DECIDE to change, you CREATE a better relationship with fitness and CONQUER your limiting beliefs. What are you waiting for?
Davie McConnachie
Davie McConnachie is Scotland’s leading health and wellness coach, multi-award-winning gym owner, motivational speaker and the founder of DMC Fitness, a fitness education facility known as the premier choice for 1-2-1 personal training. He has inspired thousands of people to fall in love with fitness – his true purpose and mission in life.
Diving into the world of fitness and wellness has helped Davie to deal with his own trauma and inner demons. He, overcame many dark times using his own unique methods to continue his cycle of healing.